Guy III of Spoleto

Guy III of Spoleto (855-12 December 894) was King of Italy from 889 to 894, succeeding Berengar of Friuli and preceding Lambert of Italy, and Holy Roman Emperor from 891 to 894, succeeding Charles the Fat and preceding Lambert II of Spoleto.

Biography
Guy was born in 855, the son of Guy I of Spoleto and Itta of Benevento, and he came from the Guideschi clan of the Duchy of Spoleto. Guy was the great-grandson of Pepin of Italy and therefore the great-great-grandson of Emperor Charlemagne himself, and his family was close in relations to the Karling dynasty. On Lambert I of Spoleto's death in 880, Guy was granted the March of Camerino, and he supported his nephew Guy II of Spoleto's invasion of the Papal States. In 882, Charles the Fat decided to retaliate by dispossessing him of his fiefs, so Guy allied with the Saracens against the Franks; the emperor declared him guilty of high treason, and he sent Berengar of Friuli to forcibly strip Guy of his titles. In 883, Guy inherited Spoleto from his nephew, and in 884 he formally recovered his titles when he made peace with Charles the Fat. In 885, he began to fight his occasional Saracen allies of Garigliano, and he returned to being a Frankish ruler.

On the deposition of Charles the Fat in 887, Guy sought to be crowned King of West Francia, and he was crowned at Langres by the bishop. However, Odo of France was crowned instead of Guy, and Guy was forced to return to Italy, disappointed. He had to challenge Berengar of Friuli for control of Lombardy, and Guy allied with Pope Stephen V, who described Guy as his only son. Although Berengar was allied to the emperor, Guy was closer to Rome, and he was crowned King of Italy in 889. On 21 February 891, he was also crowned Holy Roman Emperor, but the election of Pope Formosus led to a rift in Papal-Spoletan relations. Formosus sought other nobles to give him support against the emperor, as Berengar continued resisting Guy. In 893, Zwentibold of Lotharingia and Berengar invaded Italy, and they defeated Guy at Bergamo in 894. Guy retreated to a fortification on the Taro River, dying there in December of 894. His son Lambert II of Spoleto would continue the Guideschi campaign for the Iron Crown of Lombardy